Serbia Broadband comes under scrutiny

Serbia Broadband (SBB) is set to be investigated by the country’s Commission for the Protection of Competition to determine if it has abused its dominant market position.

Novosti reports that this follows the company’s decision to increase the price of its programme packages by RSD100 (€0.84) from this month (January).

It adds that last March the Commission approved the acquisition of the cable operator Ikon by SBB. However, one of the preconditions was that SBB had to explain any price increases for its services for the following two years.

While it informed the Commission of the price rises for January it is not clear if these rises are justified.

Should they prove to be unjusified or excessive, the Commission can fine SBB up to 10% of its annual income.

SBB is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and the leading provider of triple play services in Serbia.

It also owns the regional DTH platform Total TV and content provider Net TV Plus, as well as Telemach, the largest cable operator in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia and Montenegro.